Filling machine



Feb. 8', 1938. ANDERSQN FILLENGMACHINE Original Filed Sept. 50, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fb. 8, 1938. s. ANDERSON FILLING MACHINE Original Filed Sept. 30, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 NVENTOO. cSwan f. flndarson MA, PM M qTTo NE s is! kiwi w .r: 0 v, I

Patented Feb. 8, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FILLING MACHINE Swan F. Anderson, Rockford, 111.

Original application September so, 1932, Serial No. 635,482. Divided and this application December 3, 1934, Serial No. 755,714

8 Claims. (01. 226-93) This invention' relates to filling machines for dispensing measured quantities of material into containers and more particularly the invention relates to the filling mechanism disclosed in my co-pending application Serial No. 635,482, filed September 30, 1932, of which this application is a division.

One object of the invention is to provide a filler having novel means for preventing the additional discharge of a measured quantity of the material being dispensed in the event that the container for receiving the material is not correctly in filling position at the time when such discharge normally occurs.

A more detailed object is to provide a filler having mechanism arranged to be operated periodically to dispense measured quantities of ma-' terial into containers moved successively into filling position and having means operating automatically to disable the dispensing means in the event that a container is not in proper filling position at the time when the dispensing mechanism would otherwise operate.

The invention also resides in the novel character of the means for detecting the presence of a correctly positioned container.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a front elevational view of a fillling and capping machine embodying the features of the .present invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the main operating parts of the machine.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary front elevational view showing a portion of the filling mechanism in section.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective'view of one of the cup elevating devices.

In the form selected for purposes of illustration, the invention is embodied in an automatic machine for filling cups 5 with material such as ice cream and applying caps or disks 6 to the open ends of the filled cups. The cups commonly used have downwardly tapering body portions adapted to receive the cap snugly at the upper end. The cups to befilled are stacked in a cup dispenser I and released one by one onto a conveyor 8 by which they are moved to a filling mechanism 9 and thence to a capper l0.

Herein the main frame of the machine'comprises a post ll upstanding from a pedestal 12 and having forwardly projecting arms l3 secured to a vertical plate M from the upper end of which is supported a hopper l 5 for storing a quantity of the material with which the cups are to be filled. Adjustable vertically upon ways formed by the plate I4 is a bracket l6 (Fig. 2) to which is secured a fiat bar I! disposed in a vertical plane and supporting a horizontal table I 8 extending transversely of the machine beneath the cup dispenser, the filler and the capper.

The mechanisms above referred to are driven from a main drive shaft H! which makes one revolution in each cycle of the machine during which, in the present instance, one cup is fed onto the conveyor by the dispenser I, the second preceding cup on the conveyor is filled from the hopper l 5, and the fourth preceding cup is closed by the capper l0. Herein the shaft projects rearwardly from the plate l4 and is journaled intermediate its ends in the post ll being driven by an electric motor 20 through the medium of a belt 2| and having a worm and worm-wheel connection 22 with the shaft.

The conveyor by which the cups are advanced with a step-by-step motion from the dispenser through the filling and capping stations runscontinuously during operation of the machine and comprises a series of endless belts 23 arranged in spaced parallel relation on drums 24 rotatably supported on opposite ends of the bar ll. One of the conveyor drums is driven from a shaft 26 geared to the shaft I 9 and connected through a shaft'2'l and appropriate gearing to the other drum. In their movement by the conveyor, the cups are held against movement laterally of the conveyor by guide bars 25 on the table.

During filling each cup is elevated from the conveyor to position its open end immediately beneath a discharge opening 28 at the lower end of the hopper l5. For this purpose, a horizontal platform 29 (Fig. 5) is located at the filling station and adapted to be raised and lowered in timed relation to the machine cycle. The platform is disposed in an opening cut out from the table I8 and comprises a rectangularly shaped block having upwardly opening parallel slots 30 to receive the belts 23 and permit the platform to be raised to the desired height abovethe conveyor. To guide each platform vertically, the block has a depending leg 3| guided in the table l8 and a bracket 32. The platform is raised and lowered by a cam 33 acting on 2. depending lug 34- on the platform. The cam has a relatively long dwell surface 35 for holding the cup raised the piston rods.

for a substantial portion of the cycle to allow proper time for filling.

. To properly position the cup for presentation to the filler, a stop is adapted to be projected to again rest on the conveyor. Then after the filled cup has passed the fingers, the latter are raised by the cams.

Ice cream stored in the hopper I5 is withdrawn in measured. quantities and discharged downwardly through the h pper outlet 28 by suitable dispensing means which, in the present instance, comprises two plungers -48 disposed in cylinders 4| communicating with each other at their lower ends. Each piston is mounted for a limited degree of vertical movement on the lower end of a rod 42 secured at its upper end to the free end of an arm 48 pivoted at its other end to the post I I and constantly urged downwardly under the action of a contractile spring 44 and weights 45. Downward movement of the arm 43 is controlled and upward movement effected by a cam 48 on the shaft l8 acting on the lower end of a follower bar 41 vertically slidable on the frame plate l4 and engageable at its upper end with the arm 48.

On the end of each rod 42 is a valve disk 48 adapted, in the initial downward movement of the rod, to move relative to the plunger and become seated upon the plunger proper. In the continued downward movement of the rod, the cream within the cylinders 4| will be forced through the outlet 28 into the cup on the platform 28. When the arm' 48 is next raised, the rods 42 move independently of the plungers for a short distance raising the valve members 48 from their seat thereby establishing communication between the cylinders and the upper part of the hopper l5 through the medium of openings 48 in the plungers. It will be appar-' ent that the length of the piston stroke and therefore the amount "of cream dispensed in each cycle may be varied by adjusting the length of Preferably the outlet 28 is controlled by a valve member in the form of a slide 58 adapted to close the outlet when positioned as shown in Fig. 4 and having an opening 5i therein adapted to be brought into register with the outlet 28 by movement of the slide to the left from said position. The slide is actuated by oscillation of a bell-crank 52 connected by a rod 58 to the upper ,end of a lever 54 fulcrumed at 55. A spring 58 note; on the lever to move the 'valve slide from closed to open position as permitted by a cam 51 on the shaft I 8. The cam is shaped to coordinate the movements of the slide 58 with that of the platform 28 and the plungers 48. Thus, the

-valve is allowed to open under the action of the spring 58 as soon as the platform reaches its uppermost position and is closed quickly and substantially simultaneously with lowering of the platform. The cam 48 is shaped to permit lowering of the plungers 48 substantially simultaneously with the opening of the valve, the move- 'ment being reversed upon closing the valve,

Means is provided which acts automatically to prevent idle discharge of cream from through the hopper outlet in the event that there is no cup on the platform 28 or the cup is positioned incorrectly at the time when the cream dispensing mechanism normally acts. This means involves the use of a feeler member adapted to detect the presence of a cup correctly positioned on the platform 28 as the latter is raised to move a cup to filling position. Herein this member comprises two arms 58 disposed beneath the hopper outlet 28 on opposite sides thereof and spaced to be engaged by the upper edges of a cup on the platform 28. The arms are rigid with the bifurcated forward end of a lever 58 pivoted at 88 on the plate i4 and carrying an adjustable counter-balancing weight 88 which is insuilicient to overcome the weight of the arms. Thus, the latter normally move downwardly.

To disable the dispensing mechanism, a latch 8| (Fig. 2) pivoted on the lever 58 at 82 has a hooked lower end 53 which, in the normal lowermost position of the feeler arms, is disposed be-. low a lug 54 on the follower slide 41. For actuating the latch 8|, the same is provided with a rearwardly extending arm 8i adapted to engage with a bridge member 58 carried by the forward end of the lever 58. The hook is thus moved forwardly out of blocking relation to the lug 84 as an incident to upward movement of the cup. Adjustment of the latch position may be effected by a screw 85 carried by the bridge member 58. It will thus be seen upon reference to Fig. 2 {7118 -2 when the adjusting screw 65 is screwed inwardly, for example, the bridge 58* and the attached feelers 58 will be moved upwardly since the latch 8! is pressed against the adjacent plate 41. Similarly, when the screw 85 is moved in the opposite direction the feelers 58 will be permitted to move downwardly a corresponding amount. In this manner, an adjustment of the vertical distance between the feelers 58 and fluid-outlet is had so that the feelers are thereby adapted to actuate the latch only when a container top is located a predetermined minimum distance from the fluid outlet.

It will thus be observed that if there is no cup on the platform 28 at the time when the cam 48 releases the slide 41 for downward movement, the lug 84 will engage the hook 58 and further downward movement of the pistons 48 will be prevented. No cream will be discharged from the hopper outlet. When a cup is correctly positioned on the platform, it will engage the arms 58 and raise the latter as the platform '28 rises. The hook 88 will thus be withdrawn from blocking position and a quantity of cream will be dispensed in the regular way.

Provision is also made for preventing opening of the outlet valve when the dispensing mechanism is disabled as above described. To this end, the lever 54 has an extension 81 having a shoulder 88 adapted for engagement with the weight 88 whenthe latter is in raised position. Normally, when a cup is in filling position during the operation of 'the dispensing mechanism, the weight 88 is lowered out of blocking relation to the shoulder 88 so that the valve slide 58 is free for movement under the action of its actuating spring 58. In the event that the arms 58 are communicating at one end with the lower end of said hopper and having an outlet opening at the other end, a plunger movable in said cylinder to discharge material through said opening, a conveyor operable to advance said cups one by one to a position beneath said opening, means operable in timed relation to the movement of said conveyor to raise the successive cups toward said opening, spring means tending to move said plunger toward said outlet, power driven means operable in timed relation to the upward movement of each cup to permit lowering of said plunger, latch means normally tend ing to assume active position and when in such position to lock said plunger in raised position, and a feeler disposed in the path of each cup presented to said outletand acting upon movement by the cup to render [said latch means inefi'ectual,

2. Mechanism for filling a, succession of cups with material combining a hopper adapted to contain said material and having an outlet at its lower end, a conveyor operable to advance said cups one by one to a position beneath said outlet, means operable in timed relation .to the movement of said conveyor to raise the successive cups toward said outlet during filling, a valve controlling said outlet, a spring tending to urge said valve toward open position, power driven means operable in timed relation to the upward movement of each cup to permit opening of said valve by the spring and then to close the valve, a latch adapted when in active position to prevent opening of said valve by said spring, and a feeler disposed in the path of each cup presented to said outlet and tending to assume a position holding said latch active, said feeler, upon upward movement of a cup, acting to withdraw said latch to inactive position.

3. In a machine of the character described, a, filler mechanism comprising, in combination, a material dispensing device having an outlet opening at its lower end, a power driven conveyor operable to advance containers successively to a position beneath said-opening and then to raise the containers toward said opening, a feeler disposed beneath said opening to be engaged by each container when elevated to said opening, a valve controlling said outlet, means constantly tending to actuate said valve to open position, power driven means operating in timed relation to the upward movement of each container to permit the operation of said valve actuating means to open said valve, and means actuated by said feeler and acting to render said power driving means inefiectual except, after actuation of said feeler by said container.

4. In a machine of the character described, a filler mechanism comprising, in combination, means for supplying a material to be packaged and having a discharge outlet at its lower end, a power driven conveyor operable to advance containers successively to a'position beneath said opening and then to raise the containers toward said opening, a pair of vertically movable feeler arms disposed on opposite sides of said outlet beneath the latter and in positions to engage the upper edge of the container On opposite sides of said opening in the upward movement of the container, means operating periodically to cause a quantity of material to flow through said outlet, and means controlled by said feeler arms and means operable in timed relation to the movement of said conveyor to raise the successive cups toward said outlet during filling, mechanism perable periodically to discharge a measured quantity of material through said outlet, power driven means operable in timed relation to the upward movement of each cup to actuate said mechanism,

a latch adapted when in active position to prevent operation of said dispensing mechanism by said power driven means, and a feeler disposed in the path of each cup presented to said outlet and timed to assume a position holding said latch active, said feeler acting, upon upward movement thereof by a cup, to withdraw said latch to inactive position.

6. A filler having, in combination,, adischarge orifice, means operable sequentially to openand close said orifice to discharge successive quantities of material from said orifice into successive 1 containers positioned to receive the discharged material including an actuating member and yieldable means for moving said member in a direction to discharge said material, a feeler operating to detect'the presence of said container in filling position, and me'ans actuated by said feeler and operating to block said member against efiective operation in the absence of a container in said position.

74A filler having, in combination, a discharge orifice, means operable to discharge a measured quantity of material through said orifice into a container positioned to receive the material, and means operating to detect the presence of a container in filling position and to disable said first mentioned means in the absence of a container in said position, said detecting means including two arms disposed on opposite sides of the container for engagement with opposite edges thereof, said arms being movable with the container as an incident to the movement thereof to filling position.

8. In a machine of the character described, a filler mechanism comprising, in combination, a dispensing device having an outlet opening at its lower end, a conveyer beneath said dispensing device for presenting a series of containers successively to a position beneath said opening and within a predetermined distance thereof, a valve.

controlling the opening and closing of said outlet, power driven means operating periodically in timed relation to the movements of said containers by said conveyer to open and close said valve, detector means for normally rendering said power driven means inefiective to open said valve and responsive to the presence of the top, of a container within a predetermined minimum distance from said outlet for conditioning said power driven means to open said valve, and means for adjusting said detector means to vary the minimum distance between the top of a container and the outlet at which said detector means is actuatable to condition said power driven means in the manner defined.

SWAN F. ANDERSON. 

